After all of the lock and loading was done, the troops boarded the LAAT.  All was quiet on the ship.  These guys were trained to do a special type of job, and now that job was upon them.  All of the jokes and laughing that went on before boarding had ceased.  It was time to work.

Most of the troopers had no families to speak of, so there wasn’t the traditional kissing of pictures and reading Holy Scriptures that you may have imagined.  One thing was certain however; someone was going to die today.  The soldiers all checked and double-checked their armor and equipment.  Some cleaned their weapons, some took bets on how many they would get, but no one took bets on who might be on transport on the way back.

The Imperial troops are good, and any given Imperial platoon may see a small mission like this through a dozen different times with no casualties, but there were no guarantees.  You just had to go in knowing that your training was better, your weapons stronger, and your armor tougher than the enemies was, and then it had to be proven over and over.

Mako got onto the transport silently.  What had been a fun outing for he and Gates and gained a chill upon it.  A band of pirates was trying to gain access to his Imperial Base.  They were trying to destroy his new family.  They could not be allowed to succeed.  If every trooper on that transport died today, then the Imperials would send unstoppable waves of troops until the threat was annihilated, but that wouldn’t change the casualty ratings.

Mako checked his DC-15s Pistol.  He had not yet fired this backup weapon and it was still shiny from the package that it had come in from ICS.  There weren’t even fingerprints on it yet.  He checked his grenades and his DC-17 Combat System as well.  He had fired plenty of rounds from his standard issue E11 and was not so worried about it.  He secured the sniper scope onto the DC-17, and ran a general check on his communications gear and the positioning sensors.

Everything checked as go and he felt more comfortable about the coming battle.  He knew that this was a group of PFC’s and so there was no real commander on board.  He decided that he and Gates would split command into two teams.  If it got really rough he knew that there was a good chance that this mission may go wrong. 

There were no experienced officers to speak of, and his main experiences in leadership was with a gang of thugs rendering the backlogged payments out of some chump who was stupid enough to make a deal with the underworld bosses.  He was sure that a platoon could take more complicated orders than hired muscle, but their squads’ superior Imperial intelligence could also cost them some lives if they decided to ignore orders from another PFC.

He decided that the best policy was just to deal with it when it came up though, and looked around trying to decide if all of the men would hold up.

The LAAT had a bubbly sound in its engine, as was standard for this model.  It ran quietly enough though.

He looked over the new troops, trying to decide which one to entrust with his life.  He decided to test them in a few small ways that, while probably not scientifically acceptable, would satisfy his own needs just fine.

He pulled out his pack of Imperial Lung Blasters and lit one with his new VESA Zippo.

The smoke rolled pleasantly through the air.  Mako watched as a few of the other troopers pulled out packs as well lighting up.  He decided immediately not to take any of them, as he didn’t personally feel that they felt a need to preserve their own lives.  That wasn’t good in close situations because you never knew how they might act when it all came down.

He asked who wanted to get a beer when this was over.  A few of the guys said yes right away.  That meant that they hadn’t even though about not coming home yet.  Not good planning, they were out.

One man, a short Hispanic looking guy named Vasquez, seemed to think for a minute, and then said:

“I’ll make you a deal, if you don’t get me killed, and don’t get yourself banged up too bad either, the first round is on me.  If you end up gutting yourself, I will be sure to pour one into your I.V. bag on the way back, and if you end up biting it, I’ll shove one into your hand right before they launch you into the suns. Sound like a deal?”

“Vasquez.  You’re with me.” Mako said.  “If you don’t get me killed I’ll buy the second round.”

Mako liked this guy.  He had thought about coming home, and wanted to do so, but had also thought about the very real possibility that he may not.  HE had also thought about the fact that if he did, his buddies may not make it back themselves.

This was the guy that Mako wanted to have his back.  He looked at Gates and said: “Touchdown is in five minutes.”

The LAAT was flying low over the trees toward the meeting place.  Mako looked over the men one last time before their mission truly started.  He heard an odd sizzling sound just outside the ship wall behind his head, and turned to look at it.

He decided that they might be under fire, and so he messaged the pilots on the com channel.

"You guys see anything up there?  Anyone shooting at us?"

"All clear up here, sir.  The guages are acting a little odd though.  Probably just some turbulance."

Mako tossed this around in his head along with the sizzling sound he had heard.  Again the sizzling started up and it sounded louder this time.  It was in the same spot though.

He turned and slammed the butt of his rifle into the wall where the sizzling was loudest.  He was surprised to find that the metal gave so much.  It seemed inconsistent with the way the rest of the ship seemed to be put together.

Again the sizzling started, and this time Mako stepped back and moved his strap to the rail on the other side.  He motioned for the troopers next to him to do the same.

The two troopers got up to move.  The one to his right, Vasquez, got up and replaced his safety line on the other side, aiming his gun at teh sizzlig sound as well.

Before the next soldier could get his strap loose the wall gave way and a strange acid started spewing through the new hole in the ship's side.  The armor plating withstood the acids' burn better than the other parts.
The acid sprayed over his back and started to sizzle through the joints in his armor.  The trooper screamed as the acid made contact with his skin.

Vasquez pulled a combat knife and loosed the strap from teh soldier.  He grabed up the trooper and dragged him down the isle toward the back. 

The medic made his way towards the downed man and pulled out his gear. 

Mako tried to discern what was causing the acid to spew and whether it was a ship malfunction.  He thought that perhaps they could undo the seat and block up the hole somehow.  He checked again with the pilots to ask if they had lost pressure on anything.

After he was satisfied taht they were losing no pressure, Mako tried to step up to the side of the acid spew, which had slowed to a weak flow.

Mako cautiously stepped to the side of the hole, watching for any signs of awkwardness intently with his rifle ready.

Mako was thrown back violently when the hole in teh side of the LAAT suddenly exploded open, immediately tripling in size.

He slid accross the floor hard and was jerked to a stop when the end of his line had caught.

The other soldiers, who had been watching the situation with growing confusion, suddenly opened fire on the hole, no longer waiting to see what was causing the spewage.

Mako saw mechanical claws tearing at the edges of the hole, and saw the blaster shots absorbing into the droids' impact plating.

He scrambled to his feet and stepped to the edge of the hole.  He fired his E11 Blaster from point blank range and watched as it absorbed as well.

Gates had come to the battle spot and started firing as well. "What the hell are you doing to my ship!?!  I'll patch that hole with your droid carcass!"  He screamed.

Mako pulled out his multitool and tried to sever the arm of the droid, dodging its flaing limbs and praying that it was out of acid.

The strong material that made the arm gave way to the heat but Mako couldn't seem to get a good enough angle to make a proper incision.  He back up and yelled for the others to do the same.  HE replaced his multitool and loosed the Heavy Republic Flame Thrower that he had brought along for brush.

Gates started screaming:  "You can't light that up in here!  It will burn everyone within ten feet!"

Mako prayed that he was wrong, but the droids' shell had responded to heat and Mako hoped that this torch gun would get hot enough to do some damage.

The droid started its way into the ship, crushing the trooper transports benches and ripping the hole even wider.  Wicked looking claws came in planting heavily onto the floor.  The droid was looking intently into the cabin, but wasn't actually attacking yet for some reason.  It seemed confused, or to be looking for something, or someone.

Mako rammed the flame thrower as close to the droids data intake station as he dared and ripped back the trigger.

The droid shuddered violently trying to escape the flames, and started attacking in every direction.

Mako was again thrown away from the droid and was jerked harshly at the end of his tether.  He struggled to regain his breath as the impact from the droids' heavy blow had struck him in the chest, taking his wind.

He had lost the flame thrower when he was tossed through the air.  It slid down the walkway of the transport ship and Mako looked at the damage that he had caused their attacker.  Its "eyes" were half melted and Mako didn't see how it was still able to see.

He cut the strap that was holding him and went to find his flame thrower. 

Having seen how the droid reacted to heat, but was somehow able to absorb energy shot, Gates flew into action trying to learn how to stop this menace.

Mako struggled for breath.  It felt like he was wearing armor that was two sizes too small.  His lungs burned and there was sharp pain every time he took a breath.  He wondered if his ribs were broken.

He stumbled to his feet, shook the fog out of his head, and retreived his flamethrower from nearby.  He started making his way toward the mechanical beast and was nearly knocked off of his somewhat unsteady feet by Vasquez barreling by him. 

Vasquez was priming a grenade.  Mako thought that he was crazy to prime a grenade in a ship.  He didn't know whether to advance forward or toretreat and save his own skin, so he just stood there, readying his torch gun and hoping for the best.

Vasquez went straight for the droid, dodging its heavy claws and managing to move into its inner perimeter.  He slammed the grenade against the droids malfunctioning sensor pallet until he had made a hole big enough.  Then he squeezed the grenade into the droids flailing head with only seconds to spare before the charge ignited inside the beast.

There was a flash of light that vriefly burst from the mechanized head, but there were no flames.  Mako was confused then as to why the beast shuddered to a halt.

Vasquez started trying to pry teh droids grip away from the ship and loose it into a free fall to the ground below.  A few of the others started helping with this.

Once he droid moved as if it was still aware, but it was only an illusion brought on by the path of its clawed arm as it lost its grip and slid further out of its entry hole.

The droid finally gave way and fell several hundred feet to its resting place.  Gates shot it on the way down, muttering curses unintelligeably.

Mako tried to stand up straight and called the medic over to him to check his ribs.

He looked at Gates and said: "I guess that destroys our element of surprise.  Looks like we will just have to penetrate their defenses and pull our information from their dead bodies."

The medic patched Mako's scrapes and decided that his ribs were bruised but not broken.

Mako was relieved at the news but did not look forward to moving into combat less than 100%.

Maybe he would lay back some with the sniper and try out his sniper attachment for his DC-17.

The craft landed shortly in a bare patch just outside the range of the meeting grounds.  Mako decided that the group should go in as quietly as possible until the last second. 

THey had no heavy troops or armor to speak of, and they may get into trouble if the enemy resisted too strongly.

Mako paired up with the sniper and split the group into two teams.  Mako would monitor one team via the squad sensors and put Jula in charge of that team in his absence.

Gates gathered the other men and the two teams set off, behind them a sniper and a soon to be sniper followed at ashort distance.

Phhht.  His rifle was effectively silent given the distance from the camp.

The Merc CommTech fell where he squatted.  The team moved in silently, yet quickly. 

Mako and the sniper covered the team as best as they could; keeping a sharp eye out for the returning Captain.

Mako spoke to Gates through the SquadComm:

"Take whoever you can alive, kill the rest cleanly.  We want to try and make the camp look abandoned for the return of the Captain. He can't be alone."

The two squads went to work, and in less than a minute half of the mercs were dead or wounded, and the other half had their hands up and their weapons five feet away from them on the ground.

"Wussies!  I wanted a fight." Said Gates.

Mako told the other sniper to keep his eyes peeled and he moved in to help the two teams clear the camp.  He rounded the able bodied Mercs up and made them drag their own dead and wounded away from teh camp, back the way that they had come.

He followed them, promsing any of them that if they made a noise of warning or an "accidental" loud sound that he would burn their faces ff slowly with his flamethrower.  The mercs kept deadly silent as noone wanted to test his word.

The two teams covered the blood as best they could with dirt and equipment and moved back out to cover.  The other sniper reported that the area was clear.

"Gates. Break off from your team and interrogate these prisoners." Mako said.

Upon Gates' arrival, Mako moved back to assume command of the first squad.

The two teams were quiet and Mako tried to determine how to set traps in the camp for the arrival of the Captains guard.

He decided to take another Combat Engineer into the camp with him to set minor explosives and trip wires.  The two worked fervently and had the camp strug up within ten minutes.

They moved back into cover and Mako checked with Gates:

"How's it coming?"

"They aren't ready yet."

"I'll be right there." Mako said.

He picked out a trooper that had shown promise and left him in charge.

Mako moved back toward Gates and the prisoners.  He called his Imperial Interrogation Droid from the LAAT.

He told Gates on the loud channel that the droid was on its way, making sure that the prisoners heard him.

The prisoners stirred slightly and one opened his mouth to say something.

One of the others quickly hit him and tried to silence him from spilling his guts.

Mako smiled awaiting the droids arrival and decided that he would be the first one to be questioned.

A few minutes later the droid cam floating up.  Mako motioned the loyal prisoner forward and dared him to resist.  Gates seemed ready to abuse him at any second, but the prisoner seemed to scoff at the droid and stepped forward boldly.

Mako assigned the droid to interrogate the tough prisoner.  The man looked a bit concerned as the droid floated closer and started attatching itself to his head.  He looked even more scared when he saw the various needles, probes, and mini saws start to extract themselves from their sheaths.  He cried a little when the first needle inserted itself into the veigns in his neck and said mechanically that he should remain still for the duration of the procedures as it was a fully programmed model but his noncooperation could easily cause him paralysis.

Within two minutes he was pleading with us and swearing to tell us whatever we may want to know.

Now Mako realized that he had no real questions for the merc, and so he left the inhibited prisoner to Gates and moved back into position to watch for the Captain and his guard.

Mako moved back to the other sniper.  He looked around a bit himself, keeping an eye out for the Captain and his men.

"They may have spotted us.  They may be watching us watch for them.  Keep a sharp eye."

He moved out to check on the two squads.  He saw Jula giving silent orders to his own squad and Mako was satisfied that they were on guard.

He caught Jula's attention and pointed to his own eyes.  Jula nodded understanding and gave the order to look about.  Mako then moved to Gates' team, who was under less firm leadership in Gates' absence.

The troops made a little noise and were not well hidden.  Mako looked at the man he had left in charge, and the man looked back absently.

Mako spoke into the squad channel:

"Straighten up guys.  Get in cover and quit making so much noise.  The Captain has been gone a long time.  I personally think that he should have been back by now.  He is probably catching a bead on your exposed heads right now, so get in cover and straighten up, or I will be leaving your stupid carcasses out here for the wildlife."

The squad jumped to, silently getting in cover and checking their surroundings.

Mako called Gates over the command channel:

"How is it coming Gates?  Any word on when the Captain will show or who is with him?"

Mako didn't like not knowing what was going on.  He wished that there was a bit more info on the situation.  He didn't have the command experience to work on such little intel.  He just hoped that his best would be good enough.

Gates reported in that the Captain was with his elite soldiers, but that these guys were elite as well.

Mako reminded him that they had caught the mercs by surprise, and so they may be more competent when they have a fair shot.

He asked if Gates knew how many troops the Captain had, or when he was expected back, or even what he was off doing.

"20 Guards" Gates said.

"Thanks Gates" Mako replied.

"Be advised 20 Guards" he said to his teams.

Mako sudied the field for signs of movement.  He decided that the Captain must be out there watching.  He advised his teams to be on sharp lookout and for Gates to rope up the prisoners and get back to his squad. 

They would likely be attacked soon and there was a good chance that they were sitting ducks as they stood.

"Break up and spread out" Mako said.

"Snipey, your with me." Mako said to the unknown sniper.

"It's Mackey, sir" replied the sniper.

"All right, Mackey.  Let's move" Mako said.

The two teams started to move out into a fan position.  Mako and Snipey moved silently away from the pack.  They tried to get to higher ground.

Once they got to a good spotting position Mako pulled his Macrobinoculars and started to spot for Mackey.  He was ready to assist once the first shots went off, but he wanted to take out the captain if he could.

Mako noticed a sharp ruffle in the bushes accross the field, but it was too late to warn the teams.

Explosions started going off inside the base as Mortar rounds landed solidly in the dirt.

Mako tried the Comm to check the status of his teams.

Team 1 ok Mako" Gates reported.

"Jula is injured sir.  We need solid command of team 2."

"On my way" Mako said.

Mako hated losing the opportunity to put a solid slug in the Captain's ass, but would regret it even more if he lost a team to lack of command.

He moved down the slope to reclaim his team, and heard a low clap from above. 

Damnit.  Mackey had gotten someone.

"Who did you get Mackey?"

"Someone popped his head up. Looked like he was giving orders, so I shut him up." 

I hope that was the Captain.  "Good work Mackey. Keep it up."

Mako moved in to his team.  He sent the Medic after Jula.

Mako started blasting with his E-11 Blaster.  Mercs fell from a few shots, a few others were pinned down.

He tried the Squad channel to check the status of the hit Trooper.

"Everybody report!" He said.

"We're ok"

"Need a medic. Not priority though. He's stable."

"Taking a shot" said Mackey the sniper.

Mako moved toward the downed soldier to assess for himself the damage.

As he aproached the soldier, he saw the man's buddies protecting him by laying down cover fire.  Everything was going as it should.

Mako moved up to replace one of the tired men.

"Get that wounded soldier over to the Medic, and stay low!" 

"On it, sir!" said the relieved man.

The man moved off and started dragging the injured soldier over to the Medic, the injured man trying his best to help ease the burden.

Mako peered from his cover and saw the distance to the targets.

He primed one of his FlashBang grenades and lobbed it at the cluster of soldiers firing at them.  One of the Mercs fell right before the grenade landed.  Three of the soldiers were distracted by the falling man's defeat, and so only two were left to witness the grenade landing.  They yelled just in time to get teh other's attention, and the flash went off, burning the retinas of four of the five soldiers.

Mako drew a bead on the last able soldier of the cluster, and dropped him with two successive sniper shots to the chest.  The others screamed and clutched at their eyes. 

"Fire!" He ordered.

Without a seconds hesitation his entire team rose from cover and simultaneously fired at their targets.

The remaining four men dropped.  Mako did quick math in his head.

21 men including the Captain.  Captain plus 4 man Mortar team. 16 Mercs attack. 

Gates team dropped two before Mako got in the action, Mackey dropped two, Mako's team took six.  That left six unnacounted for.

"Gates.  How are we?  How many have you dropped?"

"The first two plus four more." Gates replied.

That left two, who were running for the Captain to report right now.

"Move out!" Mako said.

"There are two Mercs and a four man Mortar team with the Captain.  Keep him alive.  The others can burn." Mako said.

Both teams moved out of cover and rushed the Mortar launch site. 

"Got one of the running Mercs," Mackey reported.

"Check" Mako replied.

His team went in firing.  Mako had his torch gun ready and sprayed the bushes ahead of them.  Hopefully it would be enough to distract the mercs from seeing exactly where they were coming from.

Gates' team flanked them from the other side.

Once the firing died down Mako asked for another report.

Mako assembled his team.

"Stat check, Troops!"

"All accounted for, sir.  None wounded except for Jula at teh beginning, oh, and Mackey sprained his ankle."

"How in the....HE'S A SNIPER!  Where does he have to run!?!" 

"Alright, get him and Jula on the dropship, forward positions.  The rest of you load up for a short ride.  I wan't the Captain alive.  We need his bosses name" Mako said.

"Mackey...I expect you to still fire from the drop ship.  You don't have to walk for that." Mako added.

"Yes, sir." Mackey replied.

Mako had no idea why he was being so hard on the guy.  Sprained ankles could hurt worse than a small caliber entry wound.  Maybe it was that he had seen them used so much as an excuse.  Maybe he though Mackey was trying to get out of duty.

Mako hated that he was being so harsh to the guy.  He was a good soldier, Mackey was.  Mako just had to go with his gut about why the guy was claiming injury, and wait until he had a chance to see the situation pan out more before making final judgement as to whether Mackey was competent or just escaping combat.

The two teams of troops loaded onto the midnight black LAAT Transport with the new porthole in the side and prepared for the last leg of this sprint.

THe dropship took them close in to the Captains anticipated direction.  The troops could not see tha man's position, but knew that they would have to stop an armored transport that was in a hurry dead in its tracks, with only a few minutes max to prepare.

He talked to Gates over the Com:

"Gates, have that demo guy set the Pirate's traps up for stopping a ground transport as soon as we land.  MAckey is going to try and kneecap the Captain..." Mako looked over at Mackey with "That Look," which couldn't be seen under his helmet but would be known as provided..."and I will set a harge or two to make some cover for our guys."

Gates said:  "What if this guy doesn't even come this way?"

"Then we worked for nothing, but it always works out in the stories.."Mako replied, laughing to himself.

"Too bad this isn't a story" Gates said laughingly.

The dropship lowered and the men dropped out and went to work.

Mako set the charges on a few of the larger trees in the area.  THey fell crashingly down with an impact that could be felt in the ground 1000 yards away.

Team 2's demo guy went on to start re-setting the pirate's own traps to slow the transport.

The two teams worked fervently to get the job done. 

Soon, the Captain would rid ethrough here in his transport, be brought to a sudden stop, and questioned until he gave the answers or drowned in his own blood.

Then there would be nothing left but to recover that sick droid that had attacked teh LAAT and return to base.  Hopefully they could get a name, and the rest of DD could go hunting.

"Sir." a voice said over the com.  It was the medic.

"Yeah?"  Mako answered.

"Update on the medical report.  Corporal Mackey's foot is broken, sir, not sprained.  The bone is actually close to breaking the skin."

Damn.  Mako knew he had been too hard on the guy.  He seemed too solid a trooper to give up from a sprained ankle.

"Tell him I will buy him a beer when we get back, and that I'll give him 100 IC's if he can catch the Captain right in the kneecap itself." Mako said.

"I want that guy in pain every time it rains or gets cold. Mako out."

Mako said into the Private Com:

"A woman?  She must be pretty bad ass if she captains this crew.  Did we have to kneecap her?"

"You said to!" Gates replied harshly.

"I guess I did.  I must still have a soft spot for the ladyfolk. Let's do this."

Mako walked up to the lady Captain, looked down menacingly in his white armor.

"Name." 

"Captain Fresia Carrera, and the rest you can figure out without my help."

"So, Captain Carrera.  I see you want to make a reputation for yourself."

"I already have."

"Yeah. I knew that because I had to ask who you were.  We are going to play a little game.  I will ask questions, and you will answer them honestly and promptly. If I feel that you are hesisitating, I will ask Corporal Gates to ring the buzzer. like so."

Mako signaled to Gates, who looked around briefly and pointed to one of his troops who was covering the downed Merc.

The selected Trooper responded promptly by shooting the Merc in the shin.  The Merc screamed unholy hell for a minute, until the Trooper showed him his gun again.  The man quieted down.

"We won't kill them outright, but there is no guarantee that they won't bleed to death, and Gates was saying a few minutes ago about how you guys trashed his LAAT with that droid, and so all of the injured who were still bleeding would have to find their own way back." Mako was saying.

"Yeah, and I am not cleaning that thing out myself.  I think your crew should do it." Gates added to the Captain.

"You are sadistic," she said.

"No.  Just efficient.  There is a difference.  A sadist may poke sticks at you."

"Now.  Why are you here?"


The Captain hesitated for only a second.  "We were selling our smuggled goods to your soldiers.  We were supposed to meeta few of them.  We thought you were them, but then we saw what you did..."

"I forgot to mention lying wasn't acceptable. Gates?"

Gates pointed to another Trooper, who followed the same routine as the first; shooting the man in the shin and waiting for him to shut up.

The Captain winced this time visibly. 

"I think that one is her boyfriend," Gates said giggling.

"Is that one your boyfriend?" Mako asked.

She hesitated. Mako looked at Gates, who pointed to the same trooper.

"Wait!" She yelled.  "He is my brother."

"Good.  But you did hesitate." Mako said.

Gate spointed to a different Trooper, who looked like he was itching for some action.  The trooper smashed the Merc's hand with the butt of his rifle.  "No bleeding for that one I figure." he said to no one in particular.

"So, again, what are you doing here?" 

Mako had barely gotten the question out before she said:

"We were buying access codes and surplus armor.."  "You mean stolen," Mako interrupted.  "Whatever we can get." She smiled. 

"We were doing reconnaissance work and were going to infiltrate your base."

"Why?" Mako asked.

"We have a fleet that is capable of bringing your transports and deliveries to a halt.  We can blockade your planet, starve you out, and take control.  Release this planet, this one planet, from the Empire's grasp."  She said.

"Are you stupid?" 

She looked puzzled for a second, and started to answer "I don't think that I ...." She started.

"That one was rhetorical.  You thought that you could starve us out?  We can live in the woods.  Hell half of the troops already get most of their diet from the land.  Have you ever tasted the shit they put in those ration packs?  It's not fit to eat!" Mako retorted.

"And blockade the planet?  Please.  One star destroyer could break that and not ruin the finish." Mako went on.

"Never the less, we have our ways." the Captain said confidently.

"Ok.  Who is your boss?"

"He is not anywhere near here." She said.

"Is that what I asked?" Mako looked at Gates.  Who repeated the process.

When the Merc's screams died down, the Captain asked.

"Why do you insist on torturing my troops?  I am cooperating with you."

"Yeah.  You mean by not answering what the hell I am asking?" Mako said.

"Gates." Gates started to move as Mako said his name.  Mako thought that it was habit by now, so he quickly said: "What is the score here?"

"We have gotten one rediculous story out of her, and it only cost her crew a few busted shins and hands."

"So we are at about three bodyparts per right answer?" Mako asked.

"Sounds about right," Gates replied.

"So, Captain Carrera.  I am tired, and I don't want to be here all day.  How many bodyparts will it take for you to act right and get this over with?" Mako asked.

"I want transport back to your base for all of my men, proper burial for those deceased, and lodging, fair treatment, and food for the rest."  She said.

"That's a bit much to ask, don't you think?" Mako said.

He became aware of Gates motiotning and talking loudly to himself in the background.

"No way I'm letting those filthy, bloody ass people in my ship.. No way!" He was saying.

Mako looked at the Captain.  "We launch your dead into space, we feed you shitty ration packs, and you get a cell. We will also tend your wounded AFTER all of our soldiers are squared away." Mako said.

"Fine.  I will get nothing better from you." She said.

What the hell did she think this was?  A bed and Breakfast? 

"And you deserve nothing better.  You come out here, try to infiltrate us for some ludicrous idea that you have, give me flak about the way that you are treated, and expect me to pamper you?  You are lucky I don't kneecap all of you and leave you to crawl over each other while the native wildlife sniffs out your wounds."  Mako said sternly.

The captain was starting to look a little woozy from all of the lost blood.

Mako called the medic over to stop the bleeding.

He came, and injected her with a little pain reliever to ease her suffering.

Mako looked at her sternly.

"Boss." Mako said.

She smiled a bit, relaxing from the pain killers.

"My boss is someone familiar to you Mako.  He was on the crew that kidnapped your shipment when you were younger.  I was just a girl, but I remember your faces, and you were his first lot.  He has the list of names from that shipment posted in his office.  You were among the first of the lot that made him rich." She said.

"My shipment?  We weren't cargo, we were kids!" Mako replied angrily.

This reference to his past was almost too much to bear.  The "shipment" she was referring to was a bunch of kids on their way to Imperial Boarding School.  They were destined to be wards of the Empire. 

They were intercepted by Pirates and sold off to the highest bidder.

Mako was sold to a gangster and had an entire life in the underworld.  He grew up in the dark shadows of alleys and learned to bargain with a club and a blaster pistol.  He collecte dmoney from vagrants who had debts, and no way to pay.

And it was all because of this tendency of Pirates to think of human cargo as "Shipments" of valuable commodities.

"If you don't give me a name and location right now, I am going to make your nerves light up like an airport." Mako said.

His name is Gabriel.  His location is unknown, for now.  I can find out for you though." She said.

"Yeah. Do that."

Mako walked away.  He motioned for everyone to be loaded up and get ready for transport.

We will have to find this Gabriel.  It sounds like we are going on a field trip Gates.

Lets head back to base.  I will find out what we know about this Gabriel.

Be ready to move out by 0600 tomorrow.

The men scurried to get everyone bound and loaded.  The LAAT was packed with the Imperials and the Mercs all bound together in the back, save for the wounded, who were strewn about teh ship as space allowed.

Mako listened absently to the whistling wind blowing hard into the crew bay through the hole that the experimental droid had made.

He radioed to base to report in and arrange for a pickup of that droid.  It may be useful once it is figured out.

Mako sat silently, remembering the fear and dissarray of the capture of his transport, and the way that he felt as he was inspected in every crevass for signs of fault, and treated as if he was a droid being sold on the auction block.  They didn't even treat him as if he was self aware, much less consider how he must have felt.

He was lost in the past.

Mako jumped to awareness.

"Huh..?  Yeah Gates.  I'm ok.  She just said some things that I haven't thought about in a long time.  Some things that may have been better left in the past, I think." Mako said.

"Let's have some beer and real food.  I'll check on our Captain Princess after that.  Hopefully we will have a location by then."

Mako lit a lung blaster and offered one to Gates.  The two sat smoking silently, each thinking his own thoughts.

The trip back was qiuet once you got past the hole in the LAAT.

The ship returned to base, and the teams dispursed.  They all went about their duty, and met later at the Canteena for beer and burgers.

Mako didn't drink a lot that night.  He nursed a beer most of the night.  His burger was filling, but he was not in the mood to really enjoy food right now.

Gates spent time laughing, cracking jokes, and having a good time.  He never got too wasted, but he did pack away some brew.

Mako saw Mackey later on the way back from the head ad stopped to talk to him. 
"Mackey:

I think that I owe you an apology..." Mako started.

"Why?" MAckey asked.

"I was a little hard on you when I first heard about your ankle."

"You thought it was sprained.  I would have been mad too.  A soldier, a sniper, easing off duty because of a little sprain.  You were just in the heat of the stress and had to go on what you had." Mackey said.

"Yeah.  Well I am still sorry about the way I talked to you, but I appreciate your understanding." Mako said.

"So tell me, what was the Captain saying about this Gabriel guy being one of the ones who kidnapped you?"

"A story for another night (read bio).  Let's go have a beer."

Mako and Mackey walked back to the table of Imperials, who were having a grand time.  The poor waitress looked like she had dealt with drunken flirty troopers since she was born.  She handled these guys with just enough smiles, insinuating looks, and stern talk to loose them from their money, and at teh same time they all knew that they never had a chance.

The troopers went on until late that night.

Gates said:

"I know that we are supposed to be ready for deployment at 0600, but you think we can sleep in until 0700?"

I say we leave day after tomorrow.  I have a few things that I could do before then anyway." Mako said.

"Sounds good to me!" Gates said, and went back to his half empty pitcher of Correlian Ale.

At 0500 Mako woke suddenly and a flash shot through his mind.  An image of that strangely tattood hand reaching for something, or someone, burned into his memory from so long ago.  The only other place that he had ever seen that writing was in C.O. DeVeille's office during his Combat Engineer Training.  It was a puzzle.

He started getting ready for the day ahead, a quick shower, some coffee, a shave.  He needed to go find out about this Gabriel. 

Had the Captain come forth with any information?

He readied his uniform, grabbed his sidearm, and left to the prisoner medbay.  His datapad beeped on the way there.  He pulled it out...a message from Aphamos. 

"Briefing at 1430 this afternoon," it read.

Gates would be happy, he could sleep in.  They had all stayed out way too late last night.  A few hours in, everyone was trashed, including Mako.  He hated the way he felt after a hard night's drinking.  For some reason he always woke up early the morning after, and felt groggy and grimy for the rest of the day.

He noticed how his skin felt greasy and his bidy felt weighted by the Correlian Ale from the night before.

He wondered what the briefing was about.  HE moved on toward the Medbay.  HE wondered if these things were tied together in some way.


When he arrived at teh prisone medbay he reported to Captain Carrerra's room.  She was guarded by two soldiers and looked like she had had a better nights sleep, even with her knee segmented by a high caliber sniper rifle, than Mako had gotten since he joined up.

"So.  What do you have for me?" MAko asked.

"The question is, what do you have for me?  You do not have my troops at the butts of your guns now, sir, and you have no immediate way of forcing the information out of me with those guards to watch you." She said.

"Those guards are for you, Mako retorted.  Your precious soldiers know that you are going to snitch on them, and some of them have been looking for ways to get at you." Mako said, noticing the shock in her eyes.

"I don't believe it" She said.

"You don't have to, but those guards will monitor everything that comes in and out of this room until you are moved or die, whichever comes first."

"As for not having an immediate persuasion method.." Mako rested his hand firmly, yet to too firmly, on the Captain's swollen knee.  He saw her eyes flail about in her head as she watched his hand go there, and noticed her biting her lip to conceal the pain she felt when the weight of his hand put just a little bit of pressure on her destroyed joint.

"His name is Gabriel.  He is working as a strategic advisor for a tribe on Tormar.  We are just a side mission for him." She had spilled it all without further convincing.

"Strategic advisor.  I thought that you said he was a pirate on the ship that kidnapped us?  How does a pirate become a strategic advisor for ground missions?" Mako asked.

"He has grown rich from the slave trade, but credits are not something that you can ever have enough of.  He used his money to start his own small army.  HE rented them out as security forces at first, but he soon realised that he could get paid much better if he used them for double purposes."

"Gabriel rented out his security army to the Hutts, gangsters, smugglers, other unsuspecting and mislead rich beings who clung to their possessions instead of their souls.  He used them to gather intelligence on them.  HE would find vulnerabilities into their defenses, steal their secrets, whatever he could get, then he auctioned this information off to the highest bidder."

"He would arm strike teams, sell business trade secrets, and escort interested parties into the unsuspecting victim's warehouses and safes, guiding them to get what they were after."

"After a long time of this, he somehow became involved with a feuding of two tribes on Tormar.  I believe that he is simply solf to the highest bidder.  If he can help establisha  government on a planet, in fact be one of the heros that "Save the people from the old system" then he will have free reign to do whatever he wants on that planet." 

"Tormar is largely water, but Gabriel could use it as a smuggling point, or to store his bounty, and grow it into a trading hub of the black market.  THere is no limit to the possibilities if you are given free reign by the government of an entire planet."

"Think of it" She finished her report.

Mako thought hard.  THe man was playing one side against the other, and was only interested in having a safety hub with no rules.  As long as he could keep it to a point that his actions were not noticed by other planetary governments, something it sounded easy to do on Tormar, the he could grow another trade federation of his own.

This was a target that had been allowed to move on for too long on his own.

______________________________________________________________

This story ties into the squad story "Hold back your tears til you die"

Eclipse and D.D.

http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/8951/